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1/48 - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23BN "Flogger-H" by Trumpeter - released - nose correction set by Cold War Studio and from Ciro Models


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Well the last time I said I wasn't going to waste my money on a misshapen kit, I ended up buying two.

I have some practice with correcting the ESCI Mig-27:

3415738662_29a1fdb299_o.jpg

so I know eventually I'm going to get this one as well... in due time, when the price drops.

Still, when ESCI came out with their Floggers the average picture of a Soviet fighter was like:

so why bother losing your eyesight over a handful of blurry pictures when it's practically guaranteed that you're going to get something wrong anyway.

Doing just the same in 2015 shows a terrible attitude towards one's customer base. "Who will notice? Who will care?" becomes the password.

Unfortunately I know that attitude and I have too many first-hand anecdotes to tell.

"But Bone, are you sure we need to change the labels?"

"Yup."

"But why? What has changed?"

"Well apart from the manufacturer's name, the formula, the relevant directive, the hazard statements and the pictograms, not much..."

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Well the last time I said I wasn't going to waste my money on a misshapen kit, I ended up buying two.

I have some practice with correcting the ESCI Mig-27:

so I know eventually I'm going to get this one as well... in due time, when the price drops.

Still, when ESCI came out with their Floggers the average picture of a Soviet fighter was like:

so why bother losing your eyesight over a handful of blurry pictures when it's practically guaranteed that you're going to get something wrong anyway.

Doing just the same in 2015 shows a terrible attitude towards one's customer base. "Who will notice? Who will care?" becomes the password.

Unfortunately I know that attitude and I have too many first-hand anecdotes to tell.

"But Bone, are you sure we need to change the labels?"

"Yup."

"But why? What has changed?"

"Well apart from the manufacturer's name, the formula, the relevant directive, the hazard statements and the pictograms, not much..."

That is a lot of nice work you put into that. It would be a shame to waist it.

Edited by Greg B
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It'still around but a) I lost everything but the main parts during a move, B) the correction is based on the Squadron drawings which might not be the bestest around and c) it's the Hobbycraft clone with its horrid glass-like plastic. When I made it I was in high school, rich in spare time and poor in anything else: nowadays, I just don't have the time for finishing it to a standard that would satisfy me. It stands in the same state as the picture, as a memory of simpler times.

Hopefully it will be easier to give the Trumpeter kit a nose job.

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Hopefully it will be easier to give the Trumpeter kit a nose job.

The nose itself isn't a big issue as it can be reshaped easily. Things aren't easy if the problem is on the canopy or windscreen. We'll see soon enough.

Edited by Laurent
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  • 1 month later...

I am publishing these photographs for a discussion on the subject, Trumpeter's 48th scale MiG-23BN. Please refrain from posting opinions of the company since it is not the reason for this post.

Feel free to use these photographs and write on them to discuss points on the kit (as long as my copyright is acknowledged and not covered up, obliterated, or cropped out).

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I still need to add the decals and PE photos.

Regards,

Edited by sharkmouth
Correcting links
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OK, I see you updated the link and I am aware of the thread which is locked. Since no one can reply to it, why point it out unless I am to get the impression I should take this post down since the previous one degenerated? Is that it? If so, no worries by me! I simply wanted to know what I should look at to better the kit and give others a chance to see it. My next step, if I were to continue, was to post photographs of the PE, decals, and tape together the fuselage.. I didn't see that in the previous thread..

Regards,

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Komplekt Zip smileys-praying-622061.gif

Remember the Trump's Su-24 nose correction set

11455_0.jpg

V.P.

Quite

I spent twice as much on the Komplet Zip and Neomega correction/detail sets at SMW15 as I did on the original kit !. There will be a lot of plastic left over from the Trumpeter kit, I fear.

That said, I think its pretty rich to tar every Hobby Boss and Trumpeter kit with the same brush of inaccuracy
..true, they have produced some howlers over the years but they have also produced some real beauties too. I've given up reading the drivel they post over on ARC too. When American companies actually start producing anything like the volume of new kits that originate from Asia and Europe, I may change my views. Churning out yet another boxing of a host of 30-40 year old kits with raised panel lines and holding them up in comparison is getting tiresome.

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thanks for posting those photos!

very much appreciated!

the upper nose profile seems off a bit, should be more a straight line or even concave close to the tip, not sure about the windscreen seem a bit high and maybe too steep...

others may know more! any decent scale plans available for the BN?

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not sure about the windscreen seem a bit high and maybe too steep...

Canopy base should be horizontal and windscreen base should slope down. Fixing these isn't trivial.

Edited by Laurent
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It will take some major surgery to fix that canopy area and a all new canopy will have to be developed. I guess I'll just wait a bit for someone else to come out with the kit. Besides here in the US the kit price was doubled over what the other MiG-23 was. For me, it's just not worth it.

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Looking over the kit parts and those of the previous releases (since Otakar had asked about comparison images on another site), I noted that I have replacement canopies and windscreens from Ciro Models (I just found out about Rob Taurus' release a moment ago). What does it mean? I have the kit canopy left over.

Comparing to photographs I took of the real item plus some books I own (HEMA published one specifically on the MiG-23BN), I noticed that the canopy should be the same as the fighter variant. Trumpeter modified the canopy in this kit to take into account the sloping cockpit sills (which also means the add on armor is sloped as well). Once I used the standard canopy (putty on the front of the sills to make it sit level), the side view looked much better.

The windscreen may be the problem then as I started straightening out the top edge of the nose so I could not place the parts together to see the end result of the standard canopy, kit windscreen, and straightened nose.

As for the rest of the fuselage, correcting the asymmetrical air brakes was rather easier than I though (I have the Ciro Models upgrade should I have screwed them up). Adding the fuel tank weld beads is simple so that left the intakes for me to try to correct. If I screw that up, I still have a set from Aires and Ciro Models to replace them.

Regards,

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If there is an available canopy which would be right, everything else is fixable with only a bit of skill and a sharp hobby knife. I would actually cut the fuselage open somewhere under the canopy and bring the sill up to meat the new canopy than fill the existing gap. The front nose would be fixable with a heatgun and a sanding block. If you heat up the top of the nose on each half just "squish it down close to the shape than sand down the material which will be moved into the center seam line so it is once again flat and the two halves can be glued together. than just sand down the rest to shape. The canopy is my issue. Everything else is fixable. If Rob Taurus Has a canopy for the original mig-23 kit and it is right the rest is doable. But I will still wait a bit till the price comes down a bit. The original mig-23 is now available for as little as $15 if you look.

Edited by Otakar
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If there is an available canopy which would be right, everything else is fixable with only a bit of skill and a sharp hobby knife... The canopy is my issue. Everything else is fixable. If Rob Taurus Has a canopy for the original mig-23 kit and it is right the rest is doable.

I knew you see it my way (if shapes are close, work the plastic). The canopy is also available from Ciro Models. My concern is modifying the windscreen, if needed. $15 for the earlier MiG-23 kits is a deal! Another concern are the larger nose wheels (if noticeable at this scale) and the nose gear bay doors (blisters are far too small and not properly represented on the inner side).

Regards,

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This weekend, someone may visit the aircraft to verify the flat spot of the nose in front of the windscreen edge. I noted, from my photos, a slight flat spot when viewed from the side which is not shown in any of the scale plans. The photo below is not mine but from a site which covers the history of the aircraft I wish to portray; Czech Air Force MiG-23BN 9863. This flat spot occurs in the skin directly in front of the windscreen where it transitions from the flat edge of the windscreen to the rounded shape of the nose (on the next panel with the oval shaped access panels).

9863_111.jpg

Other photos which don't really confirm or deny my suspicion. They are from the MiG-23BN walk around photo set on B-Domke.de:

MiG-23BN_20+55_25772.jpg

MiG-23BN_20+55_24950.jpg

MiG-23BN_20+55_24966.jpg

Regards,

Edited by sharkmouth
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